Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete
by Azura De Martel
Summary: 2 years after the near annihilation of the Planet, Cloud, Angelina and their friends/companions were brought back into battle when several surviving remnants of Sephiroth came out of the shadows with the intention to resurrect Sephiroth.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Final Fantasy 7, it belongs to Square Enix. I only own my OC's, Laina and Phemie Donovan, Crisis, Carter Black and Selwyn Rexley while Angelina Pierce and Nina Devereaux belongs to my friend, Dina._

 ** _Prologue: The narration of Marlene Wallace_**

 _The Lifestream. That's what we call the river of life that circles our planet, giving life to the world and every living things in it._

 _The Shinra Electric Power Company found a way to use the Lifestream as an energy source. Because of Shinra's energy, we were able to live very comfortable lives._

 _But wasn't that because we were taking away from the planet's life?_

 _A lot of people thought so. Shinra used their immense power to try and stop anybody who got in their way. Shinra established and recruited a special group of warriors called SOLDIERS and all of the SOLDIERS members had Jenova cells put inside them._

 _Jenova was a calamity that fell from the sky a long, long time ago and tried to destroy the planet._

 _Anyway, there were a single SOLDIER named Sephiroth among them, who's more powerful and better than the rest. But when he found out about the terrible experiments that had created him, he began to hate Shinra. And then, over time…_ _he began to hate everyone and everything on the Planet._

 _Both Shinra and a group of people I cared a lot about fought very hard against Sephiroth, who hated the planet so much that he wanted to make it go away, including Shinra company and the people who opposed and fought against him._

 _There were a lot of cruel battles. For every battles there was more sadness. Someone I loved went back to the Lifestream too._

 _And then…It came._

 _The Chosen Day._

 _In the end, the planet itself had to make the battle stop for good. The planet used the Lifestream as a weapon and when it burst out of the planet all the fighting, all the despair, grief and sadness, everything was washed away._

 _Sadness was the price to see it end._

 _It's been 2 years since they told me, Wren and Denzel about it._

 _But it looks like the planet's a lot madder than we initially thought._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

Under the cloudy blue sky with the bright yellow sun shining down on the large and bustling city of Edge, a lot of childrens, adults, cars and trucks were moving, walking and driving on the partially dusty/dirty streets and past the dozens of two or three-storey houses, apartments, shops and unfinished metal scaffoldings around them, each of them minding or doing their own business while they slowly recover physically and mentally from the catastrophic Meteor event that happened on Midgar city (which is a completely ruined and barren place now) 2 years ago. In the center of the city of Edge stood a large pale yellow and light blue-coloured monument of a depiction of Meteor, the ultimate destructive black magic which Sephiroth, the once legendary SOLDIER hero turned destroyer had summoned forth from the Black Materia and which nearly succeeded in annihilating everyone and the Planet itself.

Somewhere in a part of the city, several childrens were standing and watching with awed/wonder looks on their faces at some of the adults who were busy in builting another new shop before they heard the sound of someone groaning, turned to look and saw with worry/fearful looks on their faces at a weak and pale-looking man sitting on the ground while leaning his back against the wall of another shop while other people ignored and walked past him. On the man's pale face was a large black mark which oozes black pus, a kind of sickness that people called "Geostigma". The childrens then decided to look away from the pale and sick man and began to run off down the street past the people walking around them. As they run on down the street, one of them step on a puddle of dirty water, causing some droplets of the dirty water to splash upward and landed on the face of a weak and pale-looking boy sitting next to his weak and pale-looking older sister inside an alleyway between 2 houses.

The boy's older sister saw the droplets of water on her brother's face and she wiped the droplets of water away from her brother's face with her hand, causing him to glance up at her. The girl gave him a small smile before they turned their heads to look deep into the alleyway when they heard the sound of someone groaning quite loudly and they both saw a man as he try to stand up and walk while black pus oozes out from his mouth, arms and body before he fell face-down onto the ground and move no more. The boy and the girl quickly turned their heads to look away from the cruel scene of the man dying in the alleyway nearby them both.

XXXX

 **Inside the Seventh Heaven house/bar…**

Inside a bedroom on the second floor inside a two-storey house/bar (called Seventh Heaven), Marlene (an 8 year old long brown-haired, brown-eyed, fair-skinned girl wearing a sleeveless white-coloured dress with short light brown-coloured shoes and a magenta-coloured ribbon tying her hair up into a ponytail behind her head) sat on a chair and watched with sad/worry look on her face at her new friend, Denzel (a short wavy brown-haired, blue-eyed pale-looking boy who had a large black mark on his forehead) as he lie asleep under the blanket on a single-sized bed while he breathed quite tiredly and heavily. A few seconds later, Denzel slowly opened his eyes, pull his hand out from under the blanket to briefly touch the large black mark on his forehead before he turned his head to glance at Marlene (which caused the cloth on his forehead to fell off when he turned). "Well, Marlene, how does it look now?" Denzel asked Marlene.

Marlene didn't answer his question, only gave him a small sad smile before she take and placed the cloth back on Denzel's forehead. " _Please. Please don't take Denzel away from us."_ thought Marlene worriedly in her mind.

The next second, a phone inside one of the two rooms nearby the room which both Marlene and Denzel were in started ringing but Marlene decided to not leave Denzel alone and answer the phone, same goes for Tifa Lockhart (a 22 year old long straight black-haired, brown-eyed, fair-skinned woman wearing a sleeveless white-coloured tank top with a sleeveless black-coloured zipped-up vest over it, with matching knee-length black pants with a kind of cloth similar to a coat-tail flowing down from the back of her shorts and black shoes on her feet), who's busy in washing then wiping the cups in the sink behind the wooden bar counter under a ceiling fan hanging on the ceiling (while an irritated look slowly appear on her face when the phone kept on ringing).

"They're not here anymore." said Tifa to herself inside the large and empty bar/living room as she kept on washing the glasses and ignoring the ringing phone. After the next few minutes, Tifa let out a small sigh before she turned off the running water, put the glass down in the sink, take a small cloth lying near the top edge of the sink to dry off her hands before she turned and walked across the wooden floor and walked up the stairs toward the second floor where her and Angelina's room, Cloud's room and Denzel and Marlene's room are.

"Cloud, Angie. Where are you two?" said Denzel weakly to himself as he stared up at the ceiling while Marlene continue to stared at him worriedly and sadly.

Tifa reached and stopped in her tracks at the top of the stairs, turned to glance through the opened door into the room of both Denzel and Marlene with a frown then sad look on her face when she heard Denzel say the names of her 2 absent childhood friends before she turned around and walked into Cloud's large office/bedroom, approach the desk (which is filled with dozens of papers, a single framed picture of Cloud, Angelina, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel standing together with the Seventh Heaven building behind them and a slender light grey-coloured phone on the desk) leaning against the wall and she picked up the ringing phone and answer it.

"Hello, Strife and Pierce Delivery Services. You name it, we deliver…" said Tifa calmly to the person on the other end of the line before she trailed off for a few seconds. "May I ask who's calling?" Tifa asked the person before she smiled. "Yeah, I remember you." replied Tifa to the person.

XXXX

 **Meanwhile, on the wide and barren dirt/rocky field outside the city of Edge…**

Cloud Strife (who's wearing the same sleeveless black cotton shirt with a curved metal plate which had the emblem of a wolf on it with one long black sleeve covering his left arm, black gloves on his hands, long cotton black pants and black shoes on his feets) and his girlfriend, Angelina Pierce (who's also wearing the same black cotton outfit as Cloud but with one long black sleeve covering her right arm, fingerless dark grey gloves on her hands, knee length black boots on her feets and her long black and silver-coloured naginata strapped behind her back) were currently listening to the latest voice message of their childhood friend, Tifa that came and was recorded in the message board of Cloud's black handphone while they sat on Cloud's black motorcycle named Fenrir on the barren dirt/rocky ground outside the city of Edge.

" _You got a call from Reno. He's in Healin and he says that he's got a job for you and Angie. Cloud, Angie, how have you two been?"_ said Tifa's worry tone of voice to both Cloud and Angelina from the phone until an automated female voice tell them that they have no more new messages and Angelina pull back from Cloud as he closed his phone and put his phone back into his pants pocket.

"Well, Cloud. What do you think? Do you think that we should go to Healin and see what kind of job Reno have for us?" Angelina asked Cloud.

"We might as well go to Healin and see and talk to Reno about this job he has for us." Cloud answer Angelina's question before he slipped his goggles over his eyes and ready to turn on his motorcycle. But before he could do so, a sharp and intense pain suddenly erupted in his covered left arm and in Angelina's covered right arm, causing them to winced in pain from it and they hold their arms softly with their other hands while at the same time some brief and unknown images flash swiftly in their minds until the pain in their arms and the images in their minds fade away.

"Angie, you alright?" Cloud asked Angelina in a pained and worry tone of voice.

"I'm fine now, Cloud." replied Angelina in a pained then reassuring tone of voice to Cloud. "Also, Cloud. You know that we can't keep hiding the Geostigma marks on our arms from Tifa, Marlene and Denzel forever. They'll find out and know about it soon." added Angelina.

"… Yeah, I know, Angie. But until then, we won't tell them about it." Cloud told Angelina before he turned on his motorcycle engine and Angelina quickly wrapped her arms around his waist (to avoid falling off the motorcycle) as he drove his motorcycle swiftly forward across the barren ground and passed the large rocks around them in the direction of Healin.

XXXX

As both Cloud and Angelina drove and ride on Fenrir across the barren rocky ground in the direction of Healin, 3 green-coloured motorcycles driven by 3 long and short silver-haired, fair-skinned and bluish-green coloured eyes men wearing long sleeve black leather shirts and pants and black gloves on their hands stopped near the edge of the cliff (which had the large Buster Sword dug on the ground near the edge of the cliff until the middle motorcycle driver kicked the sword away from it's resting place when his motorcycle stopped next to it) which overlook the large barren and rocky ground with the large city of Edge on it.

"Hey, Kadaj. Is that where big brother and big sister lives?" asked the long silver-haired guy sitting on his motorcycle to the right of the middle motorcycle driver as he glance at the city of Edge in front of them.

"Yeah." replied the shoulder-length silver-haired middle driver guy named Kadaj to the long silver-haired guy as he smirked.

"Do you think they'll be happy to see us?" the long silver-haired guy asked Kadaj for the second time.

"Not a chance." replied Kadaj.

"Don't cry, Yazoo." said the short sliver-haired guy sitting on his motorcycle to the left of Kadaj as he turned his head to glance at the long sliver-haired guy named Yazoo.

"But Mother's with them, right?" Yazoo asked Kadaj for the third time.

"Maybe not." replied Kadaj in a casual tone of voice to Yazoo, which caused the short silver-haired guy sitting on his motorcycle to the left of Kadaj to let out a short sad grunt while his face look like he's on the verge of crying.

"Don't cry, Loz." said Yazoo in a half-mocking tone of voice to the short silver-haired guy named Loz as he turned his head to glance at him.

Kadaj ignored both Yazoo and Loz, turned his head to his right to look down from the cliff and he saw both Cloud and Angelina driving and sitting on a black motorcycle on the ground below them (which causes a large plume of dirt and dust trailing behind them). "Hold on. There they are." Kadaj told both Yazoo and Loz before he smirked.

Both Yazoo and Loz (who'd stop crying) heard what Kadaj just told them both, turned to look down at both Cloud and Angelina before they glance and smirked and nodded to each other, started up their motorcycles (which roared quite loudly) and they drove and leaped their motorcycles off the edge of the cliff, briefly landed hard against the rocky cliff wall then drove swiftly down the wall toward the ground in pursue of both Cloud and Angelina (while Kadaj just stay behind and watched them go).

XXXX

"Cloud, we've incoming to our left!" said Angelina in a warning tone of voice suddenly to Cloud before they turned to look to their left and saw both Yazoo and Loz appearing and driving on their motorcycles after them both. They then saw several large black streaks appearing in front of both Yazoo and Loz motorcycles, zooming under the ground toward both Cloud and Angelina until several four-legged monsters (named Shadow Creepers) burst out of the ground around both Cloud and Angelina.

Cloud immediately pressed a button on his bike to opened the two front compartments of his bike (which stored several of his swords inside) and pulled one of his swords out while Angelina grabbed hold of her naginata from behind her and they proceed to swung, slash and knock away the Shadow Creepers (which caused them to screech in pain from their attacks) as the Shadow Creepers jumped and attempt to knock them both off of the bike. As both Cloud and Angelina attack and knock the Shadow Creepers away from them, both Yazoo and Loz drove on until they're on both sides of both Cloud and Angelina.

"Where's Mother?" Loz asked both Cloud and Angelina before he raised and swung his left arm (which had a weapon strapped on it named Dual Hound) at them, causing Cloud to quickly drove his bike forward to avoid his attack.

"What Mother? Why the hell are you asking us that for?" said Angelina as she glared at Loz (while she swung her naginata to slash away at another Shadow Creeper that appear and jumped toward her on her right).

"We know you two hid her from us, brother, sister." Yazoo told both Cloud and Angelina as he drove his bike near them before he pulled out a kind of long gun (named Velvet Nightmare) from his clothes, raised and pointed his gun at both Cloud and Angelina and he fired several bullets at them.

"We're not hiding your mother from you guys, whoever she is!" Angelina snapped at Yazoo and Loz as she and Cloud fought quite fiercely against Yazoo, Loz and their horde of Shadow Creepers while they drove their motorcycles onward on the ground.

XXXX

"Could it be that you guys are leading us on? Because I think that you guys have Mother there." said Kadaj to the other person on the other line of his phone as he stand next to his motorcycle. "There's no need for you to shout at me! I don't want to talk to you anymore, put the President on." Kadaj told the person coldly.

XXXX

Both Cloud and Angelina continue to fight against both Yazoo and Loz until the pain in their left and right arm came back briefly, caused them to winced in pain and giving Loz the chance to grabbed and yanked Cloud's sword and Angelina's naginata out of their hands, threw their weapons far over their heads and away from them before he turned his bike to drove away from them. Both Cloud and Angelina watched him drove away before they look forward, saw Yazoo driving his bike toward them before he suddenly flipped his bike up and over both Cloud and Angelina, pointed his gun at Cloud's face and fired at him, causing the goggles over Cloud's eyes to fly off him before he and his bike landed safely on the ground behind them and he drove away.

"Cloud!" yelled Angelina in fear/horror at Cloud when she saw Yazoo pointing his gun and shooting at his face in near point-blank range.

"I'm fine, Angie!" said Cloud in a reassuring tone of voice to Angelina (which make her let out a deep relief sigh).

The next second, both Cloud and Angelina watched as dozens of Shadow Creepers jumped onto them at the same time before they suddenly dissipated into black mist and vanished into thin air. Both Cloud and Angelina look around them with confusion looks on their faces before Cloud turned and skidded his bike to a halt to look back at Yazoo and Loz and he and Angelina saw them both turning and driving their bikes away from them before they look up at the cliff, saw Kadaj standing near the edge of the cliff and staring down at them with a smug look on his face before he turned on his motorcycle, got onto it and drove away.

"Who the hell are those guys and why did they attacked us and asked us about this "Mother", Cloud?" Angelina asked Cloud.

"I don't know who they are, Angie. But I'm sure that we'll know who they are soon enough from Reno in Healin." replied Cloud.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

 **In the bedroom inside Seventh Heaven bar/house…**

Denzel look at the frame picture (which stands on the small wooden table with a lamp and a small wooden sculpture of a Chocobo standing with it next to the bed he's lying on) of himself standing with Marlene and with both Cloud and Angelina standing behind the 2 of them as they all stand in front of the Seventh Heaven bar/house for a picture with a sad look on his face before he turned to his left to look away from the picture.

"Guess I was the last straw." said Denzel sadly to himself before he covered his face with his blanket.

XXXX

 **On the way to Healin…**

As both Cloud and Angelina drove and ride on Cloud's Fenrir motorcycle down the dirt road toward the Healin Lodge Shinra facility (which is built within a huge and vibrant-looking green forest with some semi-large waterfalls under a tall and huge mountain) to see Reno, Cloud's phone started ringing along the way before it ceased ringing and the calls went straight to Cloud's phone voice mail.

" _What up, fools, it's me, Barret! I'm the man!"_ said Barret's gruff, loud and happy voice from Cloud's phone voice mail to both Cloud and Angelina (which make them rolled their eyes a little). " _Oil, Cloud, Angelina!"_ Barret's loud voice resumed talking to them from the phone. " _I just found the biggest damn oil field that you or Angelina have never seen before! Surveyin's done, so I should be able to get out there and see Marlene soon. You 2 let her know, all right?"_ said Barret before his voice fell silent then Tifa's voice began talking to them from the phone.

" _Reno called again, Cloud, Angie. He says to hurry and he sounded kind of strange… be careful, okay?"_ said Tifa's concern voice from the phone before her voice fell silent.

After both Cloud and Angelina arrived and stopped in front of the large white-coloured lodge building, Cloud turned off his motorcycle engine before both he and Angelina got off the bike and they began making their way swiftly up the stairs toward the lodge. As they walked up the stairs and approach the front door of the lodge, Cloud immediately pull his sword out from behind his back, opened the door and swung his sword to clashed against Reno's electric rod (since Reno planned in hitting him with his electric rod as soon as Cloud entered the lodge but to no avail), which caused the sound of metal clashing against metal to echoed in the living room of the lodge (and which make Angelina sighed and shake her head at Reno).

Reno take several steps back from Cloud before he then charge forward with a yell to attack Cloud again but both Cloud and Angelina simply step out of his way, letting him run past them both through the opened door of the lodge before Reno quickly turned around and run back just as Cloud shut the door in his face with a thud sound.

"Okay, so you're good, I'll admit." said Reno to Cloud as he began opening the door only for Cloud to shut the door in his face for the second time and locked it (while Angelina watched in silence).

" _He's an idiot as usual."_ thought Angelina in her mind at Reno.

Soon after Cloud locked Reno out of the lodge, the door to the right side of the living room began opening outward and both Cloud and Angelina turned and watched as Reno's partner, Rude slowly walked out of the door into the living room (while putting on his black leather gloves) before he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to glance silently at them.

"Yeah, Rude, looking sharp!" exclaimed Reno from outside the lodge to Rude just as he prepared to pull out his own electric rod weapon to begin his attack on both Cloud and Angelina but before he could do so, Angelina swiftly pull her naginata out from her back, charge toward Rude and raised her naginata close to his face. After a few seconds, Rude straighten himself, cleared his throat and stepped backward away from Angelina's naginata weapon.

"Good. You and Miss Pierce still fight like the SOLDIER you 2 once claimed to be." said the voice of a man that both Cloud and Angelina thought had died in Shinra company 2 years ago before they saw the figure of a man sitting in a wheelchair and covered from his head down to his toe in a long white sheet (except for his right hand) came rolling out of the opened door and came to a stop beside Rude in front of both Cloud and Angelina. "Both of you haven't lost your touch."

"That voice, is that you, Rufus Shinra?" said Angelina as she glance at Rufus with a surprise look on her face before she lowered her naginata.

"Rufus Shinra?" said Cloud as he glance at Rufus with a surprise look on his face as well. "Do I feel sorry for you."

Both Cloud and Angelina's statements on Rufus caused Rude to cleared his throat and shifted his body uncomfortably before Rufus began speaking to both Cloud and Angelina. "The day of the explosion…"

"What do you want from us?" said Cloud, not interested in hearing what Rufus had to say to him and Angelina.

"I managed to get out…"

"Who were the guys who attacked us?"

"Before it collapse…"

"We're leaving." said Cloud as he grabbed hold of Angelina's hand and motioned his head to the door behind him.

"We need yours and Miss Pierce assistance, Cloud." said Rufus as he raised his right hand to briefly touch his face a little.

"Not interested-" said Cloud as he let go of Angelina's hand.

"I acknowledge that Shinra owns the Planet a lot. It goes without saying that my company and I…" said Rufus, cutting off Cloud's words. "Are the ones who's responsible in putting the world in the sorry state it's in. Therefore, it's our responsibility to set things right."

"That's true but not all of it is your fault, Rufus." said Angelina (which make Rufus smile a little). "The main ones who's responsible for doing great harm to the Planet is your father, the bastard scientist Hojo and others who worked for Shinra company, with the exception of Director Reeve Tuesti and his niece, Nina Devereaux."

"I'm still out here!" yelled Reno from outside, which make both Cloud and Angelina glance and scowled at the closed door behind them.

"As the first step, we've commenced an investigation in Sephiroth's wake." Rufus told both Cloud and Angelina. "It's been 2 years since then, now that the world is back on it's feet again, what poses that greatest threat to the world now?" Rufus asked both Cloud and Angelina (who knew the answer but decided to stay silent). "Well, that one's easy, Geostigma." replied Rufus. "And we've reasons to think that Sephiroth is the one responsible for it. The populace, they blamed the mako energy, the reactors… even the Lifestream for causing and inflicting the Stigma upon them. However, isn't that blame misplaced? The Lifestream has existed as long as the Planet, and even Mako energy has been a part of our lives for over 40 years. And yet, there's no mention of the Geostigma in recorded history. So the question is, what happened during our time to change all that? I can think of only 1 thing, the arrival of Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth is dead." said Cloud as he glance at Rufus with a cold look on his face.

"Yes, but has his mind died with him? What if he somehow dissolved into the Lifestream, coursing through the Planet undiffused?" said Rufus to both Cloud and Angelina (which make them widened their eyes in worry). "I know it is merely my speculation-but it is possible, isn't it? And we can't cure the Stigma until we know the truth of it. So, we took action and we look for traces of Sephiroth. We started at-do you 2 know where?" inquired Rufus.

"Yup, at the Northern Cave!" Reno answered for them.

"And what do you 2 think we found there?" said Rufus to both Cloud and Angelina, who stay silent. "Relax, you two, we didn't find anything there. However, not all went as planned. We were… interrupted by some silver-haired guys."

"Wait, did you just say silver-haired guys? Because Cloud and I were attacked by them outside of Edge city before we came here." Angelina told Rufus.

"They attacked you two, huh? I'm not surprised." said Rufus.

"Who were they, Rufus?" asked Cloud.

"Kadaj and his gang." replied Rufus.

"Kadaj and his gang?" said both Cloud and Angelina in unison.

"Yes, that's right. It would seem that they don't want us to finish what we started." said Rufus.

"And what does this have anything to do with us?" asked Cloud.

"Both you and Miss Pierce ties with Sephiroth run as deep as ours as well, Cloud." replied Rufus. "If Kadaj's purpose is to do what is necessary for the moment, we stand in their way as their greatest threat."

"Moment?" said Cloud.

"The moment of Sephiroth being… resurrected." said Rufus.

"No way." said Angelina in a disbelief tone of voice.

"Are you done talking?" said Cloud rudely to Rufus.

"Well then, let's get to the issue at hand." said Rufus. "In order to combat Kadaj and his gang, we need the 2 of you for your expertise."

"Why are you asking us? Shouldn't you be asking for someone who has more SOLDIER experience than us? Like Laina or Kunsel?" asked Angelina.

"We did meet and ask them first and as expected, they refused to help us in fighting Kadaj and his gang. That's why we called for you two." replied Rufus. "So, will you 2 joined us and lend us your help-former SOLDIER, Cloud and Angelina?" finished Rufus before he raised his right hand at both Cloud and Angelina.

"That's only in our heads… Come on, Angie." scoffed Cloud before both he and Angelina turned around and Cloud unlocked and opened the door. But he froze for a moment before they could leave. "What's this stuff about "Mother"? that they're talking about?" Cloud asked Rufus (which make him let out a small chuckle when he heard it."

"Why, did Kadaj and his gang mention something to you and Miss Pierce?" said Rufus in a teasing tone of voice to Cloud.

"Rufus, if you're hiding something from us…" said Cloud in a warning tone of voice to Rufus.

"I'd never keep a secret. Not from a comrade, at least." said Rufus with a small shake of his head. "You must want to know and learn all you can about the Stigma? Naturally, for the sakes of those orphans you, Miss Pierce and Miss Lockhart live with. Surely, you longed to see the smiles return to their faces?"

"…We do want that." said Angelina with a sad look on her face.

"All we want in the end is to rebuild our world, Cloud." concluded Rufus as he raised and hold out his right hand to both Cloud and Angelina for the second time as they turned around and glance at Rufus's hand.

"But we…" said Cloud.

"Come on, you two, think about it. Together, we can rebuild Shinra company." Reno told them both.

Both Cloud and Angelina faces instantly turn dark and cold upon hearing what Reno just said to them before they turned around and stormed their way out of the lodge.

"Not interested." said Cloud very coldly to Rufus, Reno and Rude as he and Angelina walked away from the lodge.

"Find someone else to do it." added Angelina coldly to them as she and Cloud walked down the stairs toward Cloud's motorcycle, got onto it together before Cloud turned on his motorcycle engine and he turned his motorcycle around before both he and Angelina drove/ride away from Healin Lodge.

XXXX

 **Meanwhile, at Aeris's church inside the ruined city of Midgar…**

Tifa opened the large wooden double doors of the church and she went into the church with Marlene (who run away from Tifa toward the large patch of beautiful white and yellow flowers growing inside a dirt hole inside the church with a laugh then a smile on her face before she kneel down to glance at the flowers) before she take a thorough look of the place, which is still the same even though some of the pews were broken into pieces, several broken pillars lying on the floor next to the pews and the large hole at the top left corner of the church's roof after 2 years. Tifa then spotted 2 makeshift beds and a few others items like 2 semi-large chests (one wooden and one metal ones) and 2 fire lamps lying on the floor near the right side of the flower patch.

"Does Cloud and Angelina live here?" Marlene asked Tifa when she saw the beds and the items too.

"I guess they do." replied Tifa as both she and Marlene (who stood up from her kneeling position and approach Tifa) make their way toward the beds and the items.

"What's this, Tifa?" asked Marlene as she gestured with her hand at the metal chest to Tifa with a curious look on her face.

Tifa shook her head at Marlene before both she and Marlene turned to glance down at the wooden chest and Tifa saw with worry then angry look on her face at the 2 pieces of white bandages with traces of Geostigma on it lying on the top of the wooden chest.

"They're just like Denzel's!" said Marlene in a worry tone of voice to Tifa as she take and held up the bandages in her right hand before she lifted her head to glance up at Tifa. "Is Cloud and Angelina sick?" asked Marlene.

"Why didn't they tell me?" Tifa muttered angrily.

"Did they leave because they're sick?" asked Marlene for the second time.

"They just want to fight alone." said Tifa in a small and distant tone of voice as though she's in deep thought.

"Fight?" said Marlene with a confused look on her face.

"No," said Tifa with a sad shake of her head. "I don't think that they'll fight."

"Tifa?" said Marlene, which broke Tifa out of her thoughts before she glance down at Marlene.

"Let's go home, Marlene." said Tifa.

Marlene immediately shook her head, put the bandages back on the chest before she turned to walked away from Tifa toward 1 of the intact pillars, stopped and turned around to scowled at Tifa. "No! We can't go yet! Not until Cloud and Angelina came back!" said Marlene firmly to Tifa.

Tifa sighed then smiled sadly at Marlene before she take the 2 pieces of bandages up from the wooden chest, approach and stopped in front of Marlene. "Yeah, I know, Marlene. I miss them both and wanted to see them again." Tifa told Marlene.

"Uh-huh." said Marlene with a small nod of her head.

"So, say they come back?" asked Tifa as she bend down to Marlene's height and smiled gently at her.

"We can all go home together!" replied Marlene cheerfully.

"That's right! But not until they get a long lecture from us." said Tifa with a cheeky smile/look on her face.

"Uh-huh!" said Marlene as she smiled and raised her hand for a high-five, which Tifa happily gave to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

 **In Healin…**

"Now we just gotta find Elena and the Director." said Reno to Rude before he approach and lay himself down on his back on the sofa in the living room. "Did the other employers give you any leads?" Reno asked Rude.

"No, nothing yet." replied Rude as he walked and stopped in his tracks near the window and look through the window at the scenery outside.

"Who would've thunk? That a lot of Shinra people actually return to work. Well, except for my twin brother, Crisis, who decided to quit the Turks to be with his wife, Phemie, their twin babies and his sister-in-law, Laina Donovan." said Reno before he turned his head to glance at Rude and sat up from the sofa. "Now that's what I call dedication. I'm telling you, Rude, this could be a fresh start!"

"Well, those left alive have much to atone for." said Rude without looking back at Reno (who let out a small sigh before he lie back down on the sofa).

"Two years already… seems a lot longer than that." said Reno with a sad/frown look on his face. "What a nightmare, huh? The planet was nearly obliterated, and we were the obliterators. Seriously, though, how are we suppose to atone for that? Too bad that the Director's not around, huh?" Reno asked Rude.

"Elena too." replied Rude as he turned around to briefly glance at Reno before he walked forward and sat on the armchair next to the sofa which Reno is lying on.

"Hope they're both alive." said Reno in a concern tone of voice to Rude.

"I'm sure they are, Reno." said Rude in a reassuring tone of voice to Reno. "Tseng is just like the President. The both of them are like cats, nine lives, you know?"

"You got that right." said Reno in a happy tone of voice to Rude.

The next second, both Reno and Rude abruptly stood up from the sofa and armchair they sat and lie on when they felt an ominous presence approaching and they immediately turned to glance at the front door of the lodge, which had sinister-looking black mist seeping through the door into the room.

" _Found you."_ said Kadaj sinister tone of voice to them from outside front door of the lodge.

XXXX

 **In Seventh Heaven…**

The constant ringing of the phone standing on the desk inside Cloud's office/bedroom inside the Seventh Heaven building woke Denzel up from his slumber before he slowly sat himself up from the bed, turned to his left to get off the bed, slowly walked out of his bedroom and into Cloud's large office/bedroom where the ringing phone is and he picked up the phone and answer it.

"Hello?" said Denzel to the person at the other end of the line.

" _Hello, Denzel. Marlene and I are in the church inside the ruined city of Midgar now, in case you're wondering on why we're not with you."_ said Tifa's voice from the phone to Denzel.

"Church?... Yeah, I know which church you're talking about." said Denzel.

" _Right. So, it looks like we'll be here for a while so stay there until we came back, alright, Denzel?"_ Tifa told Denzel.

"Uh-huh. I'll be here." replied Denzel before he put the phone down after he's done talking to Tifa. Right after he do so, he then remember back the time when he first met both Cloud and Angelina near the church a year ago.

XXXX

 _Denzel (who's looking quite pale and weak and wearing a simple yet slightly dirty white T-shirt with brown shorts and brown shoes on his feet while he holds and drag a long metal in his right hand) is currently walking slowly by himself down a dirt path past the dozens of ruined and rusted-looking metals lying in a messy manner on the ground on both side of him before he ceased walking and sat himself down on the ground to take a break._

 _After Denzel rest for a few minutes, he then turned his head to his right and he saw Cloud's Fenrir motorcycle parked outside the church before he slowly got to his feet and approach Cloud's motorcycle. As Denzel got close to the bike and take a thorough look at it, he soon noticed a black handphone hanging on the left handle of the bike, try to reach and grab it with his left arm to no avail before he pull his arm back, walked around the front of the bike until he reach the hanging phone, take it away from the handle before he flipped the phone open, press and dial his home number in Sector 7 (which has been destroyed per the previous president's order 2 years ago) and raised the phone close to his left ear._

" _The number you've dial for Sector 7 is no longer available." said an automated female voice to Denzel from the phone, which make him pull the phone away from him before he briefly glared angrily at the phone then he raised the phone high above him in preparation to threw it down on the ground to destroy it. But Denzel change his mind about destroying it, lowered the phone to glance down at the dozens of same and missing phone calls from a place named "Seventh Heaven" before he decided to press one of the missing calls to call back to whoever's calling before he raised the phone close to his left ear for the second time._

 _As soon as Denzel raised the phone close to his left ear, he quickly pull the phone away and glance at it with a worry/anxious look on his face. Suddenly the phone started ringing, which make him gasped in surprise and nearly caused him to dropped the phone before he press a button on the phone to answer the call while raised the phone close to his left ear for the third time._

" _Cloud, what a surprise! You never call back! Is there anything that you or Angie need?" said Tifa surprise tone of voice to Denzel from the phone, who didn't say anything to her for the first few seconds._

" _No, ma'am." said Denzel to Tifa._

" _Then who's this? Why do you have Cloud's phone and where are Cloud and Angie?" asked Tifa in a suspicious tone of voice to Denzel._

" _I-I don't know." replied Denzel sadly to Tifa before he started sniffing in fear/sadness._

" _Are you crying?" asked Tifa in a concern tone of voice to Denzel._

" _Please, I-I just don't know what to do anymore." replied Denzel even more sadly and in fear to Tifa before he started groaning in pain, raised his hands to clutch his head in agony (which began to throbbed quite strongly while Cloud's phone fell from his hand and landed sideways on the ground) and he fell to his knees on the ground._

 _After a few seconds, Denzel slowly pull his hands away from his throbbing head, saw and gasped with shock/fear at the large black geostigma liquid stain on his hands (while he also feel the geostigma flowing down from his forehead down the sides of his face) before the throbbing in his head got even stronger and caused him to fell on his right side down on the ground. After Denzel fell to the ground and is on the verge of passing out, he heard the sound of footsteps swiftly approaching him from the church._

" _Cloud! There's a boy lying on the ground near your bike! We've to help him!" said Angelina worried tone of voice frantically to Cloud after both she and Cloud came out of the church, walked toward the motorcycle and saw Denzel lying on the ground near the bike._

" _I know, Angie! Hey, you alright?" said Cloud worried tone of voice to Denzel as he hold out his right hand toward him._

" _Hang it there, little boy!" Angelina told Denzel as she hold out her left hand toward him next to Cloud's hand before he close his eyes and fell into unconsciousness and knew no more._

 _XXXX_

Denzel is abruptly broke out of his thoughts about part of his past by the sound of a motorcycle coming closer to the Seventh Heaven building where he is and a wide smile spread over his face before he quickly run out of Cloud's office/room, run down the stairs and out of Seventh Heaven to see Cloud and Angelina.

But to Denzel's dismay and disappointment, the person who's riding/driving on the motorcycle swiftly down the road and past the shops, houses, people and him is Yazoo instead of Cloud and Angelina. Denzel let out a small sigh and turned around to head back inside Seventh Heaven, not noticing that Yazoo stops his motorcycle a few feet away from him and turned his head to glance and smirk at him before Yazoo glance away from him, revved his motorcycle to resumed riding/driving onward.

XXXX

 **Back in Healin…**

Both Reno and Rude fell face-down and on their backs on the floor and groaned and winced in great pain from Kadaj fierce attacks on them after he found them hiding in Healin before he slowly walked past them both toward the president, who's sitting in his wheelchair near the window.

"Boy, do I hate liars." said Kadaj in an annoyed tone of voice to Rufus before he stopped in his tracks in front of him with his back to him.

"I apologize. This time you'll get the truth." said Rufus in an apologetic tone of voice to Kadaj. "The object that you seek fell from the helicopter while we were running away from you guys. I'm afraid we were careless."

"Is that right?" asked Kadaj as he glance at Rufus over his right shoulder.

"I swear it." replied Rufus.

"Fine. Then swear on these." said Kadaj as he threw 2 blood-stained ID cards over his shoulder toward Rufus and they landed on the floor at his feet. Rufus lowered his head to glance down at the ID cards and saw that the cards belongs to Tseng and Elena.

"Why are you doing this?" demanded Rufus.

"We need Mother's power." replied Kadaj before he turned around to glance and smirked evilly at Rufus. "The Reunion is coming, and we need her."

"Reunion?" said Rufus as he raised his eyebrow in slight confusion at what Kadaj just told him.

"Our brothers and sisters who share Mother's cells will all assemble. And together, we'll take our revenge on the Planet." Kadaj explained to Rufus as he raised his arms in the air with an evil smile on his face. "We've already sent out the invitations, but you know. Someone's gone and hidden the guest of honour."

"Invitations?" asked Rufus.

"The Stigma, obviously, president. But you already know that, didn't you?" replied Kadaj as he lowered his arms and glance at the stigma on Rufus's right hand. "Mother's derivative legacy lives on within the Lifestream and makes it happen. She does so much for us, and yet we don't even know where to find her. But what can we do," Kadaj trailed off for a few seconds to lowered his head to glance down at the floor sadly. "We're just remnants of Mother's legacy. Until we find Mother and received her cells, we can't be whole again. Geostigma and a legacy aren't enough. Not for a true reunion."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Rufus.

"President, no need to act clueless about it, surely you've known and noticed it already." replied Kadaj smugly before he turned to glance and approach Rufus, got down on one knee and lowered his head down on his left leg. After a few seconds, Kadaj slowly raised his head to glance up at Rufus again while at the same time, Rufus felt the room around him, Kadaj, Reno and Rude began to shake a little as he glance silently at Kadaj and soon saw the familiar figure of Sephiroth which made his blood turn cold with fear.

XXXX

 **Meanwhile, outside Seventh Heaven…**

"Ah!" the girl cried out in surprise when a man suddenly walked past and bumped her and her sick little brother hard before they fell down quite hard on the ground together (same goes for the moogle plushie that the girl holds/carry under her left arm) while Denzel watched the scene happen from his sitting position on the steps outside Seventh Heaven.

"Oh, sorry about that." said the man in an apologetic tone of voice to the girl and her brother that he just bumped by to the ground before he grab hold of the boy's arm to help him up. However, he saw the Geostigma on the boy's arm and he quickly let go of the boy and recoil away from him in fear then anger. "Can't you people just stay indoors?" the man snapped angrily at the girl and her brother as he hastily wipe away the traces of Geostigma in his hand on his pants before he turned and walked away from them.

After Denzel watched the man walked away and watched as the girl stood up from the ground then helped lifted her brother up from the ground and on her back in a piggyback manner, he stood up from the steps, picked up the moogle plushie on the ground and approach the girl and her brother and he hold out the moogle plushie to them.

"Uh, here." Denzel told the girl, who turned to grab and yank the moogle plushie away from him before she pushed him away from her and her brother and glared angrily at him. The girl then look away from Denzel and began walking away from him past the other people as he watched her walked away.

XXXX

 **On the cliff outside the city of Edge…**

Cloud plunge the Buster Sword back in it's previous position on the ground and walked backward away from it while he and Angelina stared at the sword with sad looks on their faces.

"We swore long ago that we wouldn't forget and we would take care of Laina Donovan, your wife, Zack." said Cloud.

"We did and yet we somehow failed to do so." said Angelina. "Easier said than done."

Both Cloud and Angelina then trailed off into silence as they recalled back some of the times they spend together with Zack and Laina.

XXXX

 _~So you want to be in SOLDIER? Well then, keep hanging in there.~_

 _~Hey, are you alright?~_

 _~Say, what're you two going to do once we reached Midgar?~_

 _~We're friends, right?~_

 _~Laina, we're under attack! We've to get off this truck now!~_

 _~Of course, Zack! Come on, Angie!~_

 _~Pops, pull the truck over to those rocks! Cloud, ride's over!~_

 _~My honour, my dreams, they're all yours now, Cloud.~_

 _~Live. You'll be… my living legacy. And also… I'll be leaving… my wife, Laina… to you and Angelina. Take care of her, alright?~_

 _XXXX_

"We did try our best, Zack. But we…" said Angelina sadly to the Buster Sword before she felt Cloud pull her close to him for a comforting hug.

The next second, both Cloud and Angelina felt the same sharp and intense pain suddenly erupted from their covered arms, causing them to break apart and they winced and groaned in great pain (while their eyes flashed back and forth from mako blue to bluish-green) before they fell to their knees on the ground.

" _Don't pretend that you two are sad."_ said Sephiroth's cold and sinister voice inside Cloud and Angelina's minds. " _Why tremble in anger that's not even real? Face it, Cloud, Angelina. All you two are and will ever be is empty puppets."_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

 **Inside the church…**

Marlene is currently kneeling and humming to herself as she touched and played with some of the white and yellow flowers while Tifa watched Marlene touched and played with the flowers with a soft/happy look on her face. Suddenly, the doors of the church burst open quite loudly behind both Tifa and Marlene and Tifa immediately turned around to see who is it while Marlene stood up, turned around and began to run toward the person who opened the doors with a happy look on her face, thinking and expecting that it could be either Cloud or Angelina. When Tifa saw that the person who burst open the church doors is Loz instead of either Cloud or Angelina, she quickly grabbed hold of Marlene's shoulders to prevent her from running forward any further before they slowly retreat backward away from Loz into the patch of white and yellow flowers while Loz slowly make his way toward them both.

"Wanna play?" Loz asked both Tifa and Marlene as he walked closer while raising and holding out his right hand at them. Tifa glared silently at him while Marlene stay close to her with worry/fear look on her face now. "I'll take that as a no, then." said Loz to both Tifa and Marlene as he lowered his right hand and continue to walked toward them both.

"Where's Mother?" Loz asked them before he stopped in his tracks in front of the patch of white and yellow flowers, lowered his head to glance down at the flowers with a disgusted look on his face then he covered his nose and mouth from the smell of the flowers. " _They stinks!"_ thought Loz in annoyance in his mind at the flowers before he glance up at both Tifa and Marlene and asked them his question for the second time. "Hey, where's Mother?"

"There's no one else here!" snapped Tifa quite loudly and angrily at Loz.

"Humph. Fine, then play with me." said Loz before he smirked and hold out both of his arms.

"Marlene, go and hide behind that broken pillar to our left." Tifa whisper to Marlene, who nodded back to Tifa without looking before Tifa let her go and she quickly run away from both Tifa and Loz (who watched her run off silently) and hide behind the broken pillar. After Tifa's saw and sure that Marlene's hidden safely behind the broken pillar, she then took her short black gloves out of her pockets, put them on her hands before she got into a battle stance.

"Heh. This'll be fun." said Loz as he smirked even deeper at seeing Tifa got into her battle stance before he got himself into a battle stance as well.

Both Tifa and Loz glance silently at each other for a few seconds before Tifa charge swiftly forward at Loz (while Marlene watched from behind the broken pillar in silence). She swung both of her clench fists several times at Loz to punch him but he somehow managed to avoid each of her swinging fists until Tifa raised and swung her right leg at him (when she saw that her fists didn't hit him) and she hit the left side of his head hard with her leg, causing his head to turned sharply to the right. Loz briefly groaned in pain from Tifa's kick before he recover from it, shot his left hand forward to grab hold of Tifa's neck then launch a strong surge of electricity from his weapon at her, causing her to let out a short cry of pain, fall backward away from him and landed quite hard on her feet on the flower patch.

Tifa glared at Loz as she wiped the thin trickle of blood flowing out the left side of her mouth while Loz smirked at her. Tifa shook her hands a little to get rid of the traces of electricity that's still there before she clench her hands into fists again, charge toward him and uses her sliding kick skill on him. But Loz jumped up and over Tifa to avoid her sliding kick skill and just as he turned around to glance at Tifa, she charge forward and gave Loz a hard uppercut punch, which sent him flying away from her and his back knocked against the right corner wall of the church before she charge toward him to swung her fists at him (which he avoided) then she jumped and gave him a hard backflip kick under his chin.

Loz let out another groan of pain from Tifa's backflip kick before he recover and swung his left arm at her just as she swung her right fist at him and their arms collide against each other. Loz then pushed Tifa away from him, swung his weapon forward at Tifa's stomach to let loose another surge of electricity at her, which stunned her temporarily this time before he raised his right leg to kicked her away from him.

After Tifa groan in pain then recover from the electricity and the kick attack of Loz, she raised her head to glance up at him, saw him swinging his left arm forward to punch her face and Tifa quickly ducked down from Loz attack, making him knock and smash the bottom of the pillar behind her to pieces with his attack before she swung her arm forward to elbow his stomach hard to stunned him then she grabbed and shoved him backward, got onto him and attack him by launching herself upward and forward from him.

But right after Tifa do so, Loz's right hand reached out and grabbed hold of her right leg, which make her gasped for a few seconds before he stood up and swung her around him (which caused her to knock against one of the long, dusty pew wooden chairs) then threw her away from him toward the front wall of the church in front of him.

Before Tifa could crashed against the wall by Loz hand, she quickly move and balanced her body to stand against the wall (while the force of Loz throwing her toward the wall caused dozens of flower petals to be ripped from the flowers and flew up into the air), glared at Loz (who still smirked at her) before Tifa then pushed her legs further against the wall to gain momentum, launch herself away from the wall toward Loz, grabbed his neck, slammed and dragged his head and body down on the floor as she run before she threw him high up into the air above her, jumped up into the air toward Loz and grabbed hold of his neck again before she threw him down onto the floor. Loz crashed hard onto the floor behind the pews, causing a huge cloud of dust to rose up into the air from the crash before Tifa landed safely on the floor, stood up and turned her head to look over her right shoulder at the place where she just threw Loz at and had a relief look on her face when she didn't see him get up.

"Tifa!" exclaimed Marlene in a loud and relief tone of voice to Tifa (who glance at her) before she run out of her hiding spot and run toward Tifa (who had a happy look on her face at Marlene). But before Marlene could reached Tifa, both of them suddenly heard the loud and clear ringing sound of a phone coming from somewhere within the church.

Both Tifa and Marlene then look at the church around them to see where the ringing sound come from with confused looks on their faces before Tifa realised where the ringing sound come from, turned around to glance at the place where Loz is just as he bust himself out of the wreckages of the pew on the floor, brush some dust away from his clothes with his right hand while Tifa glared at him and stood in front of Marlene in a protective manner.

After Loz is done in brushing the dust off of his outfit, he then take his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open to answer it. "She's not here." Loz told the person at the other end of the line in an irritated tone of voice. "I'm not crying!" exclaimed Loz in denial (which make both Tifa and Marlene exchange confused looks with each other) before he turned and glance at them, more specifically, Marlene. "No, I got it. I'll take and bring the girl." said Loz to the person before he flipped his phone shut and put it back into his pocket.

"So, where were we?" Loz asked Tifa as he readied his weapon (while Tifa watched his every move intently) before he kicked one of the pews toward Tifa, who raised and swung her left arm to smash the pew coming toward her into pieces while Marlene ducked down behind Tifa in fear.

The few seconds when Tifa smash the pew to pieces, Loz took advantage of it to teleport behind her, punched her back with his weapon (which make her let out a cry of surprise and pain) before he grabbed and knocked her hard against another one of the pillar then he threw her toward the flower patch and she landed hard on it (while Marlene watched with horror on her face). Loz then make his way toward the flower patch where Tifa's lying on, grabbed hold of her neck to lift her up before he pointed his weapon against the right side of her head in preparation to finish her off. But before he could do so, a single sphere of materia is thrown and hit the back of his head, causing him to let go of Tifa and turned to glance at Marlene, who's standing next to an opened chest filled with dozens of materia. Loz smirked menacingly at seeing the opened chest filled with materia and Marlene before he stood up, turned around and make his way toward Marlene and away from Tifa.

"Cloud! Angelina!" Marlene cried out their names as she glance up at Loz with a fearful look on her face.

"Just run, Marlene!" Tifa yelled at her before she slipped into unconsciousness and knew no more.

XXXX

 **Meanwhile, outside Seventh Heaven…**

Several kids were running past several adults down the street when one of the kid stopped in her tracks to glance at Denzel, who's sitting by himself on the steps outside the Seventh Heaven building. The girl then turned, approach and glance down at Denzel, who also raised his head to glance up at her.

"Hey, sorry…about before. Thank you." said the girl in an apologetic tone of voice to Denzel about when she rudely pushed him away from her and her brother.

"It's fine." said Denzel to the girl before he glance at the moogle doll she carry in her right arm.

"My little brother…" said the girl in a sorrow tone of voice to Denzel when she noticed that he's staring at the moogle doll she carry. "Well, he's gone now."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that." said Denzel in a pitying tone of voice to the girl.

"Hey, I know that you have it, like me and the others." said the girl to Denzel (which make him let out a small gasp of surprise). "Come on, they say that they'll fixed us." The girl added to Denzel before she grabbed hold of his left hand, pull him up from the steps and bring him with her toward the pickup truck where the other kids were.

Denzel glance at the truck and the other kids climbing and sitting at the back of the truck with hesitation and suspicion in his mind before he made up his mind and make his way toward the truck with the girl and climbed onto the back of the truck with the girl and the other kids. Unbeknownst to Denzel, Yazoo watched him climbed onto the back of the truck with the other kids with a smug look on his face before he turned and went into the driver's seat of the truck while thinking about taking more kids from other towns of villages in different parts of the continent.

XXXX

 **A half-hour later, in the church...**

Both Cloud and Angelina arrived outside the church before Cloud turned off his motorcycle engine and both he and Angelina got off the bike and they walked toward the church and went in. Both Cloud and Angelina's shoes make clicking sounds on the wooden floor of the church as they walked toward the flower patch and stopped in their tracks in front of it (while failing to noticed the broken pillars and pews lying scattered on the floor around them). Both Cloud and Angelina then noticed Tifa lying injured and unconscious in the middle of flower patch and worried looks appear on their faces before they quickly approach and kneel down on both sides of Tifa and Cloud gently lifted her up in his arms from the flower patch.

"Tifa! Tifa!" said Cloud in a slightly loud and worry tone of voice to Tifa.

"Hey, Tifa! What happened to you?" asked Angelina worriedly to Tifa.

Tifa groaned in pain before she slowly opened her eyes and glance up at both Cloud and Angelina. "You two are late." murmured Tifa in a faint and pained tone of voice to them both.

"Who did this to you?" demanded Cloud.

"I… don't know. He didn't say… his name." replied Tifa before her eyes suddenly snapped open and she lurched forward from Cloud's arms. "Marlene!" yelled Tifa worriedly before she passed out for the second time and fell backward into Cloud's arms.

Cloud then glance and exchange worried looks with Angelina before they look at the church around them and didn't see any sign of Marlene or the person who attacked and injured Tifa anywhere.

"Dammit!" Cloud swore angrily under his breath.

"Marlene…" said Angelina, feeling very worried for Marlene.

The next second, the same sharp and intense pain rose up and shot through both Cloud and Angelina's arms again, more stronger and painful than before and causing both of them to gasped quite loudly and in pain from it before they saw with horror looks on their faces when black liquid appear and oozes out of the gloves on their hands, flow down their arms and dripped down onto the flowers below.

The pain on their arms became too much for them before they closed their eyes, collapsed down onto the flower patch in unison near Tifa and they soon slipped into unconsciousness.

XXXX

 **Another half-hour later…**

When both Cloud and Angelina opened their eyes and look at the place around them, they saw that they're no longer lying unconscious in the church with Tifa, but sitting on the chair (Cloud) and lying on the bed (Angelina) inside Denzel's bedroom in Seventh Heaven. Both Cloud and Angelina then turn to look at the other bed nearby them, saw Tifa lying unconscious on it and they got up from the chair and off the bed to approach her and glance down at her with worry then relief looks on their faces.

"You know, you two are pretty heavy." said Reno's voice from behind both Cloud and Angelina, causing them to immediately turned around and glance at both Reno and Rude standing and staring at them near the closed doorway.

"Weren't there some kids living with you two and her?" asked Rude to both Cloud and Angelina.

"Because they ain't here anymore." said Reno.

"They're not here anymore?" said Angelina worriedly to both Reno and Rude (who nodded to her) before she lowered her head to glance down at the floor while Cloud decided to stay silent.

"You don't care?" said Rude to Cloud as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I just…" Cloud began saying then trailed off into silence and look over his shoulder at Tifa as she still lie unconscious on the bed while Angelina glance up at him with a sad look on her face.

Both Reno and Rude waited for Cloud to finish his sentence and when he didn't, Reno let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at him. "Ah, you're a real handful sometimes." said Reno in an exasperated tone of voice to Cloud before both he and Rude turned around, opened the door and leave the room and Rude slammed the door closed quite hard and angrily behind him (which make Angelina winced a little from it).

After both Reno and Rude leave the room, both Cloud and Angelina turned to glance at the framed photo of them standing with their backs to Seventh Heaven with Tifa, Marlene and Denzel and they recalled back to the time they found Denzel in pain and lying on the ground near Fenrir outside the church.

XXXX

 _Cloud turned on the engine of his motorcycle while Angelina waited near him and holding Denzel's (who's looking even more pale and shaking in pain from the Geostigma on his forehead) closely in her arms before they got on the motorcycle together with Denzel._

" _Tifa said to bring you to Seventh Heaven." Cloud told Denzel._

" _Just try to hang on, little boy. We'll bring you there in no time." said Angelina in a gentle and reassuring tone of voice to Denzel (who moaned and kept on shaking in pain in her arms)._

 _Cloud glance over his shoulder at Denzel lying, moaning and shaking in Angelina's arms with a sad/worry look on his face before he briefly glance up at Angelina then turned to look forward and drove his motorcycle away from the church and toward Seventh Heaven, where Tifa is waiting._

XXXX

Both Cloud and Angelina broke out of their thoughts about the past to glance and exchange silent/worried looks with each other about both Marlene and Denzel before Angelina sat herself down on the bed and glance at Tifa's unconscious form in silence and worry while Cloud decided to walked toward and stand near the window to glance out.

XXXX

 **Meanwhile, on the barren/rocky land outside the city of Edge…**

Yazoo drove the truck with the childrens (that he'd been ordered to gather in Edge) sitting together at the back of the truck away from the city of Edge. As Yazoo drove the truck away, Denzel raised his head to glance at the girl sitting in front of him and decided to ask her a question.

"So, who is the person who say could fixed us?" asked Denzel.

"I don't know." replied the girl as she briefly glance at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I see. Whatever, like it really matters anymore." said Denzel to the girl as he lay his head down on his knees in silence.

XXXX

 **Deep within the Forgotten City (night-time)…**

"Well, just look at what our big brother and sister is hiding from us." said Kadaj with an evil smile on his face as he (who hold a frighten and struggling Marlene close to him tightly, not letting her go) glance down at the opened chest filled with materia before he picked one of the materia up in his hand. "Powers forged in the Lifestream. With these materia in our grasp, those powers will be ours." Kadaj told Loz before he turned to look away from him and Marlene, lowered and pressed the materia he holds in his hand on his left arm and let the materia be absorb into his left arm (which started to glowed and emanate a bright bluish-white aura of energy out of his left arm).

"So these materia are gifts from our Mother?" asked Loz as he let go of Marlene (who watched and slowly started to walked backward away from them) to approach and kneel down in front of the chest of materia and picked one up.

"Yeah, gotta be." replied Kadaj.

"Then, big brother and sister's hiding Mother too?" said Loz.

"No, it's that Shinra guy and his Turks lackeys." spat Kadaj. "Keeping her hidden is something that they've always been good at."

"Then all we've to do is check anyplace that's got anything and any connection to Shinra." Loz suggested to Kadaj as he picked up and examined the materia one by one (while Marlene continue to walked slowly backward before she quickly turned away from them).

"Yeah, you're right. And soon we'll have plenty of help." Kadaj told Loz.

"Boy, I just can't wait!" said Loz in an excited tone of voice to Kadaj as he stood up from the ground.

"But first, we need to have a word with our big brother and sister." said Kadaj in a sad then anger tone of voice as he think about Cloud and Angelina while he raised and glance at his left arm (which glowed even brighter). "How they breaks my heart." added Kadaj to himself before he swung his left arm to cast and launch a fierce fira magic attack past Loz (who let out a yell of surprise) and Marlene (who scream in fear) toward one of the white-coloured tree, destroy it and send it falling and landed hard on the ground in front of Marlene, preventing her from escaping.


End file.
